Oil finish and shipping

[Kesh Ikuma]

Hi all,

I haven't been here for a looong time, but I have a question that I cannot think of better place than here.

I'm building a Becksvoort Shaker side table (FWW #210) to be shipped to my sister, from Louisiana to Iowa (yes, talk about climate shift...). I'm considering to stay true to the article & put oil finish (T&T Danish Oil) on it, but I don't have a good sense on how long I should wait to ship. T&T states 24 hours to cure, but not sure if that means it'll handle shipping conditions.

Thanks in advance to anyone who'd share any insight to this!
Kesh

[Jim Becker]

T&T will "generally" cure in 24 hours relative to some handling, but you'll be best served to let it sit for a week or so after your last application before packing things up. IMHO. Be sure you are putting on very thin coats and completely wiping them off after 15 minutes or so.

[John K Jordan]

Also, I don't know if oil finishes have this problem but others have reported that some types of finishes have been ruined by shipping with plastic or bubble wrap touching the piece. Apparently the contact can soften some finishes and the plastic will stick. To be safe I always wrap things in paper first, then protective packing.

JKJ

[Edward Dyas]

Hi all,

I haven't been here for a looong time, but I have a question that I cannot think of better place than here.

I'm building a Becksvoort Shaker side table (FWW #210) to be shipped to my sister, from Louisiana to Iowa (yes, talk about climate shift...). I'm considering to stay true to the article & put oil finish (T&T Danish Oil) on it, but I don't have a good sense on how long I should wait to ship. T&T states 24 hours to cure, but not sure if that means it'll handle shipping conditions.

Thanks in advance to anyone who'd share any insight to this!
Kesh

As long as you don't wrap the table with plastic it shouldn't hurt anything to ship it. I wouldn't use any packing peanuts either since the solvents could melt them. Now if the box gets to smelling like paint the shipper may be put off. Tape it good.

[Kesh Ikuma]

Thanks Jim,

I was guessing their 24 hours spec isn't targeting shipping it out. A week sounds good but that also means I need to hurry up and finish building it

I've used T&T before. As a matter of fact, the pint can I bought a while ago is still more than half full as I'm practicing "very thin coats" best I can!

[Kesh Ikuma]

some types of finishes have been ruined by shipping with plastic or bubble wrap touching the piece. [...] To be safe I always wrap things in paper first, then protective packing.

John, Thank you for the heads-up. I didn't think of that. I've been considering crating it up with 1/2" scrap, which would unknowingly prevent the potential plastic mess. Whatever way I'll package it, I'll do the paper wrap first.

[Kesh Ikuma]

if the box gets to smelling like paint the shipper may be put off. Tape it good.

LOL True dat. Or better yet, my sister may get put off if she is greeted by a heavy whiff of oil when she open up the package. Hopefully, setting it out for a week will reduce the odor to manageable level.

[Jim Becker]

Fortunately, T&T doesn't have a "paint" smell...it does have the typical light odor of linseed oil because that's what it is...polymerized linseed oil. It's not hugely objectionable and dissipates in a reasonable period of time. That said, the piece after crating and shipping will likely have some level of off-gassing, so be sure that the recipient knows that is the case so it's expected but will not last long once the piece is in free air.